Pre-tournament favourites Australia ran to an incredible 9-2 win over South Africa to assure itself a berth in the quarter-finals of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup at Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela on Friday. Australia defeated South Africa 9-2 for its second win in three games to finish at the top of pool A.
Other teams to make it to the crossovers from pool A are Argentina (5 points) and France (4 points).South Africa finished at the bottom without a point.
It was France that held the limelight as it forced former Olympic champions and Pan American champions Argentina to a thrilling 5-5 draw.
On a day of tall scoring games, after Australia mopped up a splendid 9-2 win over South Africa, France and Argentina were locked in a titanic goal scoring contest. After 11 goals in the first game of pool A, 10 goals followed in the second and last pool game of the group.
Twenty-one goals in two matches may have excited nearly half filled Birsa Munda Stadium that has already witnessed some thrilling finishes and a few upsets.
For France Charlet Victor turned out to be the trump card as he completed a brilliant hat-trick of goals, including two penalty stroke conversions in the 35th and 59th minutes besides two penalty corner goals in the 37th and 48th minutes. The first goal for the French, who are here as a part of their preparations for the 2024 Olympic Games, came from Tynevez Etienne in the 10th minute.
For Argentina Delia Terre Nicolas too, completed a hat trick of goals as he scored in the 32nd(penalty corner), 41st (penalty corner and 59th (penalty corner) whileKenan Nicolas (second minute) and Martin Ferreira (50th minute were other scorers for the South Americans.
Four goals by Blake Govers gave Australia a flattering finish in the group matches. After leading 7-1 at half time, Australia added two more goals in the second half and conceded one to finish the game at 9-2. Blake Govers scored in the third, 14th, 18th and 19th minutes before leaving the scoring for other team members. Tom Craig (ninth), Jake Harvie (21st), Beale Daniel (27th), Hayward Jeremy (31st) and Tim Brand (46th) were other scorers for the Kangaroos. Three of these goals came via penalty corners and one through penalty stroke. For South Africa, both the goals were field goals. Ntuli Niqobile (7th minute) and Kok Tevin (57th minute) were their scorers.
Prabhjot Singh